Category Archives: Weddings and Babies

Happy New Year’s! Hope everybody had a slammin time ringing in the New Year. Mine began with fresh margaritas and pasta…and ended with Anderson Cooper’s giggles and Kathy Griffin’s raunchy references to taffy and Christmas presents on CNN. As I look ahead to this coming year, I’m excited to do more things that make me happy and smile. I figured if I shared my resolutions with you, it would hold me accountable for making them come true! Wish me luck.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about my wedding….probably because I’m trying my hardest to make it NOT consume my life. I’ve witnessed friends on the verge of a breakdown because they can’t find the perfect color napkins or the DIY favor she was obsessing about turned out ugly or her Bridesmaids went postal on her. I so do not want this to become me. I have a list of things to do and really just want it to be as simple and as painless as possible. I’ve already come to terms with the fact that it probably won’t be the prettiest or most meticulously planned wedding. To me, that’s totally fine. I just want to have fun and not stress out too much about it. There are also wedding traditions that I just find un-necessary and wasteful, so I’m just omitting them all together….No bridesmaids, no paper invitations, no wedding cake. Some might find this to be sacrilege, but it’s our day, so we’re just going to do what we want. I almost opted for no flowers, but thought that it was a bit much to walk down the aisle with nothing in hand. I did, however, decide instead of flowers as centerpieces, I wanted lemons.

I like the idea of using lemons because they’re photogeni and they can be re-used to make lemonade. I’m not particularly eco-friendly, but don’t like to be wasteful. My vision is to find glass bowls (like the Crate & Barrel Charleston one below) and fill them up with a bunch of lemons and one lime on the top (as a finishing touch). This was also the inspiration for the color palette of the wedding….lemon and grey (see Pinterest inspiration board below). Yeah! Making progress on wedding planning.

I’m traumatized by everything that I’ve heard about giving birth. I’m not going to scare you (and especially any men who are brave enough to read on) with the gory details, but let’s just say there’s lots of pain and tearing. Ouch! You know it’s bad when all your friends won’t give you a straight answer. I usually start with this question: “On a scale from 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?!” All of them somehow avoid a direct response and then launch into how cute the baby is. In the exact words of one of my friends (who is a new mom)…”They make ‘em so cute, so you won’t chuck them out the window.” Contextually, we were talking about the endless pooping and eating. There must be some truth to this because this weekend, I totally fell in love with my friend’s baby. She might be one of the cutest babies ever. See below. How can you not love her pinchable chubby cheeks and her cankles?! She’s 10 pounds of pure happiness (yes, her Mom deserves a medal for pushing her out) with endless smiles, laughter, and giggles. Uber cute! This might be a weird analogy, but my mom always used to (and still does) say: No pain, no gain. Guess she was right, again!

P.S. If you want to give it to me straight, please fill in the blank below. Giving birth feels like _______.

Haven’t done much lately in terms of wedding planning, but got to thinking about whether or not it’s classy or trashy to have a keg or not. My fiance loves Lagunitas IPA, so I thought it’d be a nice, personal touch to get a keg of his favorite beer. I’m not one for traditional wedding etiquette, so that’s not really a concern for me. And our wedding style is casual California cool, so wouldn’t really clash with the vibe. Yes, it’s somewhat college frat boy party-esque, but hey, it’s not like it’s Bud, Coors, or PBR. We’re talking premium beer! What do you guys think? Take my poll below. Feel free to comment, too. Thanks, peeps!

Like this:

I love bachelorette parties because everybody’s in a good mood. Lots of catching up with old friends…making new ones that you can then party with at the actual wedding. And I’ve been blessed with friends who have cool friends…or at least friends who keep their crazy in check for the bachelorette weekend. This one was in Los Angeles (otherwise known as La La Land). Check out the shots from the night out on the town (below).

In spite of all the fun, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I’m too old to go clubbing and it’s not fun anymore. I was always that girl in college that everybody could count on to go booty shaking on the Sunset Strip. Same in my 20’s- Wild underground hip hop at the Slip Inn. And now, I just feel old. Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing and I always will….but standing in line to get in, sweet talking bouncers, watching the scantily clad young’ins flirt and preen. Maybe I’m getting older, maybe it’s because I have a man now….whatever the reason, I’m so over it!

Bread at STK in West Hollywood. Best bread ever. It’s like crack! I think I ate 6 pieces.

This weekend I hosted my first baby shower. Not alone, of course. That would have been a disaster! My friend and I (both baby shower host virgins) were supervised by a fellow friend (and mom of 2) who kept us in check and reminded us that a baby shower is different from a bachelorette party. We had it at this adorable tea room with amazing scones!

I hate baby shower games, so I was put in charge of them. I managed to find 3 games that didn’t make me roll my eyes, and they were hits! 1. Celebrity Baby Match- match the celebrity mom with the baby (thank you, US weekly!) 2. List as many songs with the word “baby” in the name (it’s harder than you think) 3. Daddy Knows Best- I emailed the dad-to-be before the shower and had him answer a bunch of questions related to the baby or pregnancy. Then, the mom-to-be guessed what he answered. (Yes, a spin off a bachelorette game.) Favorite question asked? If you had to choose one of the Jersey Shore guys to name your baby boy after, who would it be? Pauly D, of course!

And then, there were the presents, which is really where it gets interesting…Here are the top 3 things I learned at the baby shower:

Rubber duckies with holes in them grow mold on the inside. Make sure to get rubber duckies with no holes!

Like this:

I feel like a bad bride. I’m going on 6 months being engaged and I still have no idea when or where I’m getting married. When asked what my dream wedding is I shrug and say “I’m not one of those girls.” When asked this year or next year, I say “this year or next year.” This is not a function of me getting cold feet (I’m practically already married and living with sig O), but just dreading the planning part. I thought I’d care more since I have a pretty strong opinion about what looks good and bad, but part of me just wants to leave the details to somebody else and just show up the day of. I’m already sick of talking about it and the “fun” hasn’t even started yet. If I had to write a classified ad, it would read: Bad bride seeking hassle free wedding venue with rustic modern charm. If you know of any, send ‘em my way….or maybe we’ll just elope in Hawaii. In the meantime, here are some shots of venues we’ve toured. We couldn’t agree on a favorite. Poo!